This, however, is not to say that we can’t reduce drug demand. The last year has seen significant increas in research funding into methamphetamine addiction for which there is currently no proven therapy. The cartels manufacture and create most of the methamphetamine intended for US consumption. There have been an increasing number of steps taken by the US judicial system to divert drug offenders from prison to rehabilitation and an increasing sense that we incarcerate far too many drug offenders.

What is missing, however, from the discussion is the extent to which reducing drug demand increases our security and thus, is in our national interest to pursue. There seems to be no interest in discussing the real financial impact of US drug consumption on the Mexican economy. We can read in American newspapers that drug monies contribute anywhere from $12 billion (General Berry McCaffrey) to as much as $35 billion or more but we have no way of assessing which of those extremes is more accurate.

We can’t seem to discuss to what extent our drug consumption supports the Mexican economy, if it does, and what effect might reducing demand have on increasing emigration from Mexico to the US.

I guess in short, I am glad that there is some sense that we, as a country, bear some responsibility but we need more of of a committment to understanding that relationship and what we can realistically hope to achive.